Micelle Encapsulation of Ferromagnetic Nanoparticles of Iron Carbide@Iron Oxide in Chitosan as Possible Nanomedicine Agent

Abstract

In this work, the synthesis and characterization of core/shell nanoparticles of iron carbide@iron oxide (Fe3C/γ-Fe2O3) encapsulated into micelles of sodium dodecylsulfate and oleic acid and stabilized with chitosan was developed. The materials were sonosynthesized at low intensities using standard ultrasonic baths with iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)5) and oleic acid as iron source and hydrophobic stabilizer, respectively; obtaining nanoparticles with a hydrodynamic diameter of 19.71 nm and polydispersive index (PDI) of 0.13. The iron carbide@iron oxide nanoparticles (ICIONPs) in oleic acid were used as the organic phase during the self-assemble of nanoemulsion with sodium dodecylsulfate in water to obtain the metastable micelles. The final step involved the stabilization of the micelles using low molecular weight chitosan solution at 2% in acetic acid by ultrasonication bath. The nanosystem showed a hydrodynamic diameter of 185.30 nm, a PDI of 0.15 with a superficial charge ζ of 36.70 mV. Due to the magnetic, physical and chemical properties previously measured of the ICIONPs, it is believed that this type of nanoparticles can be used as a possible nanomedicine agent.